Jose Lopez has signed with the Yomiuri Giants of the Central League, the country’s most popular team and winner of the 2012 Japan Series. According to Nikkan Sports, he agreed to a one-year deal worth $911,000.

Seattle’s Felix Hernandez threw Major League Baseball’s third perfect game of the season Wednesday — a record — joining San Francisco’s Matt Cain and the White Sox’s Philip Humber, who also tossed his gem at Safeco Field. That means six of the 23 perfectos in baseball history have come since 2009. Little wonder this is being called the Decade of the Pitcher.